What happens with schools?

[Unocard]

When testing is no longer free? Is there any update on this? We have a few days until testing is chargeable and it’s already become impossible to get any LFT’s.

Have one child positive currently, can see another going down with it in the next few days - will they have to do the full 10 day isolation if I don’t want to pay for extra tests on day 5/6?

The point of this is living with covid, rather than encouraging everyone to stay at home for 10 days so that doesn’t seem right?

But likewise, school have always been very cautious and I can’t see them just dropping any requirement to test.

Anyone know?

@Bessica1970

Pretty soon I’m sure schools will not require isolation at all. We’ve got SATS/ GCSEs coming up. To make it fair - all students need to be able to do them, and they currently wouldn’t be able to if they had tested positive.

If they don’t want a huge chunk of kids missing grades they’ll have to relax the restrictions further.

They've deliberately spread out the GCSE/A-level exams so a kid who has covid and misses some exams will not miss all the exams for that subject. They will be given a grade based on the papers that they do sit.

Our school ask for the 5 days isolation and if negative test on days 5 and 6, the child can return to school on day 6. We've been reminded that there is a shortage of LFTs but told that people will be able to buy them from April 1st. I can't see anyone doing that so people will stop testing altogether or kids will end up having the full ten days off.
It's interesting really, my employer could tell me to not come into work if I'd tested positive, but the law doesn't require me to stay at home anymore. On theory, I could be being paid for having at least five days off doing what I wanted.

I suspect new guidance will be issued, probably on Thursday evening as they seem to think that is enough notice.
DC's school has said they're following the current guidance and they'll review next term but Friday is the end of term for us.

@FairyCakeWings

Classes are much more likely to be sent home with the current testing than they will be when it stops. All the people that have been off with covid in my school have felt well enough to come back before their tests allow them to, so stopping testing should have a positive effect on school attendance.

My anecdotal evidence is precisely the opposite. School staff have been ill-er than they expected, and off for much longer. Stopping testing will have a negative effect on school attendance by adults.

I think schools would love to end restrictions! It’s costing a small fortune for cover teachers to replace isolating teachers who are otherwise fine to work.

Schools would like to end covid, but since that's impossible, they'd like the DfE to fund them adequately to take into account the supply teachers required to cover ill staff. They'd also like the DfE to fund them properly in general.

DD’s school issued guidance for April onwards a couple of weeks ago which I presume was directed by the LA.

Basically they acknowledge that people have to pay for tests any of the three main symptoms will require five days off or a negative LFT. They made clear that it would sit alongside their other policies such as 48hrs off for d&v or waiting until spots had healed over for chicken pox. I have no idea how stringently that will be enforced and they did state they’d review cases individually if needed.

There’s not been much chat about it so I don’t know if people are broadly in agreement, haven’t read the update or haven’t connected how often a temperature or cough can occur in children. I’m in quite a well off area, so it’s possible people will just pay for tests without thinking about it too much.

Honestly? No idea - Nothing issued by DfE yet so all school leaders are waitingvto hear this, we're looking at a policy in case nothing received, but as usual all through covid schools are updated atvthe very last minute meaning they need to waste loads of time planning for every possible outcome as they have no idea what tje government will say and need to be ready ton update families how school will function practically once an update has bedn received. It's a shambles, as usual.

@Cornettoninja

DD’s school issued guidance for April onwards a couple of weeks ago which I presume was directed by the LA.

Basically they acknowledge that people have to pay for tests any of the three main symptoms will require five days off or a negative LFT. They made clear that it would sit alongside their other policies such as 48hrs off for d&v or waiting until spots had healed over for chicken pox. I have no idea how stringently that will be enforced and they did state they’d review cases individually if needed.

There’s not been much chat about it so I don’t know if people are broadly in agreement, haven’t read the update or haven’t connected how often a temperature or cough can occur in children. I’m in quite a well off area, so it’s possible people will just pay for tests without thinking about it too much.

Interesting point about costs. Our school have said nothing, but it's a lower income area and realistically they're not going to be able to weather the drop in attendance figures if they were to try and have a policy like your school once people need to start paying. Maybe we will see variation between areas.

For anyone who was interested, govt now issued the following guidance:

Children and young people who are unwell and have a high temperature should stay at home and avoid contact with other people, where they can. They can go back to school, college or childcare when they no longer have a high temperature, and they are well enough to attend.

Good news I think, not sure how well it’s going to go down with schools!

From an attendance pov that’s great, from a CEV/general sickness pov not so much.

I have to also say that neither myself or dd have had a temperature at all (certainly not one we’ve caught) with the current infections we’ve got, so from my experience that’s saying literally nothing is going to be in place.

If they don’t test, they can’t be required to isolate. Just assume it’s a cold instead of suspecting covid, and no problem will exist%

Except there's a massive problem of classrooms full of children with covid and staff who then come down with it. Simply put, your children will have repeated periods of being taught by supply staff or in overcrowded classrooms in different year groups to keep schools open.

If you think the exodus from teaching is currently bad, just wait until school staff are experiencing repeated covid infections.

@Lazypuppy

You won't test so you won't know if its covid or not, so school can't tell you to keep kids home. If they are genuinely unwell you keep them home, if its just a cold you send them in

Quite the opposite will happen if the advice is the stay at home with cold symptoms because without testing there will be no way to prove it's NOT covid so some will be off 5 days every time they are ill. Very unfair for those struggling to afford or access LFTs.

Where do you think this is going to happen containsnuts? From an employment law perspective, employers who are expecting staff to prove they don't have covid before being allowed to come into the workplace and to pay the costs of that themselves are going to be in an interesting position.

so some will be off 5 days every time they are ill.

This isn't even remotely practical, so not going to happen.

They'll either hone in on a particular symptom (which would work particularly well) or if feeling too unwell to go in (more likely).

Has there been guidance that says 5 days?

The problem is, and will continue to be (although hopefully to a lesser extent) staff absence. Because there is an infectious disease circulating at very high levels, and it is making a significant proportion of the people who get it too ill for work. Regardless of whether we have restrictions or not, that is the reality.

@TheFallenMadonna

The problem is, and will continue to be (although hopefully to a lesser extent) staff absence. Because there is an infectious disease circulating at very high levels, and it is making a significant proportion of the people who get it too ill for work. Regardless of whether we have restrictions or not, that is the reality.

Yes I think that's true, and worse, that there's not a great deal we can do about it. I'm in favour of better ventilation and air quality in schools, I've read a bit about how it's not healthy generally and I do remember the unpleasantness of stuffy classrooms and how hard it was to learn. So I support that anyway, but countries who've invested more in this than we have don't seem to have avoided Omicron being everywhere.

@TheFallenMadonna

Has there been guidance that says 5 days?

I think the new guidance is stay at home for five days if you have a respiratory illness and I think it includes a temperature.

@Tigerblue actually the new guidance says:

"From 1 April, updated guidance will advise people with symptoms of a respiratory infection, including COVID-19, and a high temperature or who feel unwell, to try stay at home and avoid contact with other people, until they feel well enough to resume normal activities and they no longer have a high temperature ."

www.gov.uk/government/news/government-sets-out-next-steps-for-living-with-covidonger have a high temperature."

@Tigerblue messes up the link

www.gov.uk/government/news/government-sets-out-next-steps-for-living-with-covid

@HardyBuckette

Where do you think this is going to happen containsnuts? From an employment law perspective, employers who are expecting staff to prove they don't have covid before being allowed to come into the workplace and to pay the costs of that themselves are going to be in an interesting position.

That's precisely my point. It's the official guidance as quoted above but it's in no way sustainable.

Oh, you mean employers won't follow the guidance? I see. I agree, I think it'll just be ignored. It's not law after all so they've no obligation. Maybe some employers might pay for tests themselves but honestly, when covid's everywhere there are a lot of circumstances where there just wouldn't be much point.